text: A perovskite is any material with a crystal structure following the formula ABX, which was first discovered as the mineral called perovskite, which consists of calcium titanium oxide (CaTiO). The mineral was first discovered in the Ural mountains of Russia by Gustav Rose in 1839 and named after Russian mineralogist L. A. Perovski (1792–1856). A and B are two positively charged ions (i.e. cations), often of very different sizes, and X is a negatively charged ion (an anion, frequently oxide) that bonds to both cations. The A atoms are generally larger than the B atoms. The ideal cubic structure has the B cation in 6-fold coordination, surrounded by an octahedron of anions, and the A cation in 12-fold cuboctahedral coordination. Additional perovskite forms may exist where either/both the A and B sites have a configuration of A1A2 and/or B1B2 and the X may deviate from the ideal coordination configuration as ions within the A and B sites undergo changes in their oxidation states.
  As one of the most abundant structural families, perovskites are found in an enormous number of compounds which have wide-ranging properties, applications and importance. Natural compounds with this structure are perovskite, loparite, and the silicate perovskite bridgmanite. Since the 2009 discovery of perovskite solar cells, which contain methylammonium lead halide perovskites, there has been considerable research interest into perovskite materials.